The coal pup grunted in surprise as Melee surged forward and nipped at his mouth, trying to dislodge some of the fur. At first he tried to pull himself away from her, unsure of what the exuberant girl was trying to do! Pawing at his muzzle like that… no one pawed his muzzle! He snorted, but before he could grow much more indignant he realized she was only playing at the bits of her tail fur that were left in his teeth. He worked it with his tongue and spat it onto the ground at his paws so she would stop, though when he lifted his head and looked back to her any annoyance he had with her had passed and his good natured grin had returned.
What with the excitement and snow abound Scorpius had failed to take note of the peculiarities of the young Dahlian’s forepaws, but when she tried to pull the fur from his teeth he noticed something odd about the girl. The fleeting thought quickly skittered to the back of his mind, though, as he watched Melee perch before him.
“Dahlia de May? Never heard of it,” he muttered offhandedly. It was not strange that the pup had yet to know about Dahlia, for he did not know about any of the outlying packs in ‘Souls. His youth had been spent traveling with his mother and Aunt Selene when they left the cult in New Brunswick, a life he barely remembered. The people there may have been the faintest of blurred memories in the pup’s mind, but they had taken leave so soon after his birth that he had replaced the memory of those people with new ones of traveling, and of the wolves in his mother’s new pack.
“I’m from Anathema.” The statement was strong, and the bold pup stood tall and proud as he spoke the words. “My mother is the Angela – our alpha.” He beamed with delight as he told her of his parentage.
He let it hang in the air for a moment before his stiff posture went lax again, and he padded closer to Melee. The sable furred boy lowered his head as though to sniff at the ground about her, though soon his nose bumped against her forepaws. He sniffed them for a second, catching faint traces of the many adventures this young pup had already been on, then lifted his gaze to meet Melee’s. Until now, Juju was the only other pup he had ever known, and there was nothing different about either of the boys. He had never seen strange paws like these, and did not know what a birth defect was. He cocked his head and looked at Melee, confused and concerned.
“What’s wrong with your paws?” he asked simply. There was no hint of scorn or mockery in his tone, he was honestly curious. He placed a paw of his own next to Melee’s. Unable to even count digits on one of her paws, he studied the other that seemed to have more than his. “Why do they look different?”